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Runbow is a nine-player, fast-paced mutliplayer platforming game developed by 13AM Games that's coming to the Wii U eShop next year, and looks to be a very promising example of indie development for Nintendo. The guys working on the game are nothing if not ambitious, and we managed to get some fresh information about some of the things you can expect to see.

The gameplay that’s been showcased before is from the Run mode, which pits you against up to eight of your friends in a platforming race to the finish. It’s not that simple though, the background will periodically change colour and any of the platforms or obstacles that match the colour of the time will disappear and no longer exist in gameplay for as long as they're hidden. This is the key element to most of the game’s modes, of which there are many.

A single player campaign will feature in the final product to allow you to enjoy the game even if you don’t have any friends available at the time. Coupled with this is a challenge mode that will be “comparable to the Adventure Mode in Hyrule Warriors”, and promises to provide ample single-player fun once the main campaign has been beaten.

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Alongside the Run mode, there are other multiplayer delights including King of the Hill (which is exactly what it sounds like) and Arena, which functions much like a deathmatch wherein you have to stay aloft of a hazard to survive, all the while attempting to bash your opponents off the edge and into their doom. There are also plans to bring the gameplay online, allowing for potentially even more than nine players in a single game. Whilst these are all great features, they don’t even come close to what else has been revealed.

Bowhemoth is a single player, solitary, gargantuan, and brutally difficult level designed to test both your skill and endurance. The Bowhemoth gives you just three lives to tackle an obstacle course that will take between 30 and 40 minutes to complete, and should you manage to best the challenge put before you, you’ll be able to see just how well you did against the rest of the world via an online leaderboard. This one will be something for the platforming veterans.

The last mode revealed is Colourmaster, which designates the player with the GamePad as the titular deity that can control the environment that the other eight players are running in. This includes spawning obstacles and controlling the colours to confuse and defeat the runners in their plight.

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To make an evening with this title and some friends even better, 13AM Games is planning to implement a system that takes advantage of the GamePad’s microphone and camera. Appropriately titled the Frustration Cam this feature will recognise when someone yells or screams out in anger or displeasure and will use the camera to take a snapshot of the occasion for your viewing pleasure once the match is over.

It’s encouraging to see an indie developer really taking advantage of what the Wii U has to offer, and it’s apparent that this is a game that couldn’t exist in this form on any other console — it will likely come to other platforms, however. The game is also currently running at 60 frames per second in full 1080p, and 13AM Games has stated that it plans to keep it this way upon release.

Are you looking forward to this colourful caper? Let us know in the comments below!